And Pregnancy with Lymphatic Drainage?

This’ll be the last post about pregnancy for a while (unless you ask for more…) but I’ll just finish discussing my various modalities used during gestation.

Is lymphatic work safe during pregnancy? Yes, as long as there are no other complications and we avoid deep abdominal work. Again, you must tell your therapist you are pregnant. Lymphatic work is generally safe for most people and, before starting, your therapist will ask various questions about any problems with renal (kidney) function, thyroid function, history of tuberculosis, cardiac oedema and pregnancy. A positive answer on any of these will alter the treatment.

Why have a treatment during pregnancy? Well, some people have an existing oedema and may need help on an ongoing basis with returning fluid to the blood. This could be in an arm or leg. Pregnancy is the not the best time to consider a detox, so I wouldn’t advise a drainage during gestation for this purpose.

If you have swelling in your legs (cankles) that is purely linked to the pregnancy, drainage may help but it will most likely only bring temporary relief. The lymphatic vessels are fairly delicate and are quite easily compressed. The swollen uterus full of fluid and foetus pushes downwards into the bowl-shaped pelvis and compresses blood and lymphatic vessels and also nerves. This limits the amount of lymphatic fluid that can return to the blood. While I can drain this away, a short stint on your feet will likely see it return. If you are doing pregnancy yoga or Pilates, this can very useful as the exercises are often done on the floor, and if in a dog-pose, allows the weight of the uterus to fall forward and decompress the pelvic region. This is a little more like our four-legged ancestry!